Jennifer Ann Kirkman[1] (born August 28, 1974) is an American stand-up comedian, screenwriter, podcaster, and actress. She is known for her regular appearances as a round-table panelist on Chelsea Lately and as a guest on @midnight, as well as for her appearances on the Funny or Die sketch series Drunk History, and its continuation television series on Comedy Central.

She has released three comedy albums, Self Help (2006), Hail to the Freaks (2011) and I'm Gonna Die Alone (And I Feel Fine) (2016), the latter also serving as her debut stand-up feature for Netflix. Her second stand-up feature, Just Keep Livin'?, premiered in January 2017. Her debut book, I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales From a Happy Life Without Kids, was published in April 2013, and became a New York Times bestseller.

Kirkman produces I Seem Fun: The Diary Of Jen Kirkman, her own weekly podcast,[8] and has made several appearances on The Crabfeast podcast, which is hosted by comedians Jay Larson and Ryan Sickler. She also appeared regularly on the monthly Pod F. Tompkastpodcast with Paul F. Tompkins, on which he referred to her by the nickname 'Southie'.[9]

Most notably, Kirkman was a staff writer and round-table regular on E!'s Chelsea Lately. On June 3, 2010, she announced she would be leaving Chelsea Lately to join the writing staff for Perfect Couples, a romantic situation comedy which premiered as a mid-season replacement on NBC on January 20, 2011. She continued to make occasional round-table appearances on Chelsea Lately, beginning in late 2010.[13]Perfect Couples was removed from the NBC schedule on March 11, 2011, and Kirkman returned to the writing staff of Chelsea Lately in April 2011.[14] In 2011, she began making regular appearances on the second season of After Lately.

In November 2013, Deadline reported that FX had landed a script deal to Jen, a half-hour sitcom executive produced, written by and starring Kirkman. The series, set in Boston, Massachusetts, centered on a recently divorced a woman in her mid-30s. The project was backed by Borderline Amazing Productions, with executive producers Chelsea Handler, Tom Brunelle and Brad Wollack.[15]

On October 11, 2017, it was reported that ABC had started development on The Mighty Quinn, a television series written by Kirkman and produced by Julie Anne Robinson. The half-hour comedy series focuses on "39-year-old Quinn, who, after getting dumped by her boyfriend on Christmas Day, takes a year off from dating to find herself."[18][19]

Kirkman's first book, I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales From a Happy Life Without Kids, was published in hardcover on April 16, 2013, and was listed on the New York TimesNon-Fiction Best Seller list. In late 2013, she signed her second book deal with Simon & Schuster, a follow-up to her best-selling debut.[15] Her second book, I Know What I'm Doing and Other Lies I Tell Myself: Dispatches from a Life Under Construction, was published in April 2016. She also has several published essays, which have been included in Rejected: Tales of the Failed, Dumped & Canceled and Bad Sex: We Did It So You Don’t Have To.

In 2001, Kirkman founded Girlcomic.net with fellow comedian Becky Donohue. The website featured interviews with comedians such as Joy Behar, Margaret Cho, Sue Murphy, Amy Poehler and Sarah Silverman. On the intention of the website, Kirkman stated, "[that the] one thing about feeling like there are still threads of sexism is women can get discouraged and we wanted [to encourage] girls to write funny stories and we wanted to interview famous female comics to let their stories get out. It was meant to be positive and cool and we included men on the site too."[20] Regular updates to the website ceased in 2003, and the domain was ultimately closed in 2006.

As an eight-year-old, she would sneak over to a friend's house to watch Sam Kinison and George Carlin comedy specials on HBO. “[Kinison] was a big thing for me,” she said. “Someone is yelling, I’m not in trouble, and it’s funny.”[21] She has cited Morrissey as perhaps her greatest influence, and although she is "nothing like him," his ability "to say morbid things with a sense of humor is now in my DNA."[23]

On August 21, 2009, Kirkman married writer/director Neil Mahoney in a private ceremony at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts.[24] On the August 25, 2011 episode of Chelsea Lately, she revealed she was no longer married. On the January 14, 2012 episode of the Pod F. Tompkast, she confirmed that she and Mahoney had divorced.